That "first person" is just a group of neurons experiencing a signal. Call it what you will: "On". Or "I am". I think about it as "Still connected", given that people who lose significant parts of their brain still "feel alive". When those neurons stop receiving it, the sense of self gradually stops.
I also think that one of the reasons we need sleeping is to recharge the signal emitters; that's why we lose consciousness in the process.
I must stress that I am not an expert in neorology at all, I just have thought about this for a while. Obviously when I say "a signal" as if it was a digital 1 or 0, evolution will probably have implemented bunch of chemicals and electrons being interchanged at different times at different places.
That "first person" is just a group of neurons experiencing a signal. Call it what you will: "On". Or "I am". I think about it as "Still connected", given that people who lose significant parts of their brain still "feel alive". When those neurons stop receiving it, the sense of self gradually stops.
I also think that one of the reasons we need sleeping is to recharge the signal emitters; that's why we lose consciousness in the process.
I must stress that I am not an expert in neorology at all, I just have thought about this for a while. Obviously when I say "a signal" as if it was a digital 1 or 0, evolution will probably have implemented bunch of chemicals and electrons being interchanged at different times at different places.